Chapter 20: Kenryoku the Soul Blade

## Some Time After Rin's Death ##

Senshi had started falling into a depression again, but this time was worse, for he knew he had broken his promise to Obito. On top of all that, he had started hearing voices, murmurs.. Ever since that battle where Rin had died, Senshi had grown stronger and trained his Mangekyo further, even unlocking the Armored Susanoo stage (which had a moon-sun shakujo staff), and also getting a new alias, Bane of the Bloody Mist, along with another flee on sight order, this time from Kirigakure. However, it wasn't enough to keep his mind off the pain, so he tried to take his own life again, this time by letting himself bleed out on top of the Hokage mountain, but Minato and Kakashi found him this time.

## Flashback ##

Senshi lay there on top of the Hokage Mountain, more specifically, the stone head of Hashirama Senju, looking up at the clouds and blue sky. It all looked like a normal scene, except for the fact that Senshi's wrists were slit open and pouring out blood, and the fact that Senshi was lying in a puddle of his own blood. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Minato wondered where Senshi was. Kakashi asked, "Where's Senshi? He's late.", then Minato said, "I don't know, Kakashi. Let's find him.", then both activated their chakra sensing techniques and Minato found Senshi's chakra signature on the Hokage Mountain and then told this to Kakashi. They both rushed to the head of Hashirama Senju and, once they saw Senshi there, unconscious and bleeding out, they were shocked to the cores of their hearts. Minato grabbed him and carried him as Kakashi used the medkit that Rin had given him back at the now-destroyed Kannabi Bridge to heal the slits on Senshi's wrists. They then rushed him to the hospital to get a blood transfusion because he had lost a lot of blood. Once Senshi woke up, Minato and Kakashi asked why he had tried to take his own life again, and Senshi said that he felt guilty and that his punishment should be death. Both Minato and Kakashi heard Senshi's choking sobs and Minato hugged Senshi to comfort him as Kakashi looked on.

After this incident, Minato had told Hiruzen to have ANBU trailing after Senshi just in case Senshi tried to take his own life again. Senshi noticed this and didn't mind it, but he didn't know that someone else was watching: his sword. The sentient blade thought that he eventually needed to interact with Senshi. So he did once the time came.

## Third Training Ground ##

Senshi was sitting on a boulder with his sheathed sword beside him, looking up and thinking. Thinking about the twists and turns fate had hit him with. Suddenly, he clutched his head with one hand as he heard the murmurs again. "Power... blade... vessel..", then Senshi, wanting to know who it was and finally fed up with the constant murmurs, asked, "Who's talking to me?!", to no one in particular, and shockingly, the answer came telepathically, and it was, "It's me, um.. your weapon.", then Senshi jumped about 9 feet in the air as if stabbed in the backside by a pin, before getting back down, turning to the blade and asking, "So.. how are you alive? How do you", then the blade told Senshi in his head, "Alright, if you wanna talk, let's be less noticeable.", then Senshi asked, "How do we talk in person?" The sword said in his mind, "To talk in person, sit down in a lotus position, then put me, sheath and all, on your lap. Then close your eyes and meditate. Then you'll meet me in person." Senshi did as he was told, and was pulled into the dark black void of his closed eyes.

## Senshi's Mindscape ##

When Senshi opened his eyes, he realized that he was sitting in his original position, albeit without the sword on his lap, in his Mindscape which was, at the moment, a blank canvas. He looked around until he found a man in a robe emblazoned and stitched with symbols of the Six Paths, tomoe and intricate lines. The man had a samurai sword at his waist as well. The man turned his head slightly and saw Senshi out of the corner of his eye, then the man said, "Well.. now let's talk.", before turning around and beginning to speak. He said, "I am the only existing Tamashi no Ken, or Soul Sword, in the world, or this world at least. I am called that because I connect with my wielder's soul and thus I can access my wielder's powers, such as elemental manipulation, albeit to a lesser degree. Hagoromo-sama set it so that my consciousness would awaken after my wielder unlocked either Sage Mode or the Susanoo, depending on what my future wielder would have, since he was planning to give me to a reincarnate of either Ashura or Indra, both of which are guaranteed to have unlocked either Sage Mode or the Susanoo of the Mangekyo Sharingan. But I never expected the next person to wield me would be the reincarnate of my first wielder. Now that's both irony and coincidence at their finest.", the man finished, chuckling. Senshi was taken aback for a moment because of the rush of information, but quickly regained his composure and then asked, "But how does this all relate to Hagoromo-sama? What connections do you possess with him?", and the man replied, "I aided him in many fights, and I was also the sword he used to fight the Juubi (Ten Tails). On his deathbed, he sealed away my consciousness until those requirements I talked about earlier were met, because he wanted me to see this world's future.", he finished, punctuating it all with a sigh and a sad smile. Senshi replied, "Cool! So how strong are you?", then the man perked up again and said, "Since you haven't used my Shoki Ryokin or my Initial Charge, which is my first evolved form that grants me my true power, and freed me from my Sealed state, my power's been suppressed for all the time you've wielded me." Senshi was, again, taken aback at even more information, but he once again regained his composure and asked, once again, "So.. how do I unlock your true power, if you don't mind, sir?", and the man smiled and thought, "Hagoromo-sama.. this boy, you reincarnated, is pretty good. You chose well.", then he snapped out of his thoughts and back to reality and, remembering Senshi's question, told him, "I don't mind. Actually, it would feel good to release my pent up power. Alright, now if you want to unlock my Shoki Ryokin (Initial Charge), you'll need to hold me out when I'm unsheathed, channel your chakra into me and say my Kaigo or Release Command, which is 'Anata no Chikara, Kenryoku no Fune (Release Your Might, Vessel of Power)!' By the way, my name is Vessel of Power or Kenryoku no Fune. I trust with my real name because I believe in you, and I know you will shock the shinobi world like Hagoromo-sama before you.", then Senshi happily smiled at Fune's encouragement and then nodded, before leaving the mindscape to get back to the outside world.

## Third Training Ground ##

He opened his eyes picked him up and drew his blade from his sheath, revealing Fune's sharp single-edged blade within. Admiring it for a moment, he then held the handle, held Sozo out and shouted the Kaigo, "Anata no Chikara, Kenryoku no Fune (Release Your Might, Vessel of Power)!" Suddenly a burst of chakra came from Fune and his blade grew longer to a length of 3 feet and 9 inches, or over a meter, and Fune also thickened ever so slightly. Basically, Fune had changed into his true form and became a nodachi sword, able to reach people from farther away and cut them up into pieces. Fune then spoke in his mind again, saying, "Thanks for that. I was getting tired as a sealed katana. And now I have my powers back!", then Senshi, excited, asked, "Ooh.. what powers are they?" Fune began discussing the powers, saying, "I can hold chakra like a battery for you to draw on if you're running low. I can also absorb any chakra, including the chakra of elemental kekkei genkai, and send the chakra back in an attack either imbued with the chakra that was absorbed or the actual element itself, and I can also keep it for later use." Senshi's eyes widened to the size of saucers at hearing this but Fune wasn't done yet. Fune said, "I am also unbreakable and I can also change the length of my blade from 3 feet and 5 inches up to 4 feet and 10 inches and my handle can grow from 6.60 inches up to 1 foot and 1.2 inches. And also, if you raise your hand and shout, 'Modori, Kenryoku no Fune!' or 'Return, Vessel of Power!', I will either be pulled into your hand if I am within your sight and near you, or appear in your palm if I am far away." At this point, not only were Senshi's eyes as wide as dinner plates, but his jaw was mopping the floor. Senshi broke out of his shock and asked, "Please tell me.. do you have another Charge Form because your first was Initial, so is there a Final version?", then Fune replied, "Yes, I have a second, more powerful form which is my Saishū Ryokin or my Final Charge. It's named Saiko no Senpaku, which means Supreme Vessel of Power and it has some more new powers which I'll discuss once we achieve that form, okay? I'll be your sensei now in kenjutsu.", then Senshi nodded and shouted happily, "A sword spirit's gonna be my sensei! Yay!" Inside Senshi's head, Fune could only chuckle at his new kenjutsu student/wielder's antics. Then Senshi, with Fune's blade at his belt, left the training ground, happy and contented.